Name Count Box

Most popular baby names of 1981

Michael and Jennifer topped the list in 1981. The 10 most popular names went to 24% of boys and 17% of girls, from 7,286 boy names and 12,195 girl names in all.

← 1980 All years 1982 →

Top boy names of 1981

  1. Michael 68,750
  2. Christopher 50,221
  3. Matthew 43,330
  4. Jason 41,927
  5. David 40,629
  6. Joshua 39,024
  7. James 38,283
  8. John 34,868
  9. Robert 34,395
  10. Daniel 30,985
  11. Joseph 30,761
  12. Justin 27,307
  13. Ryan 26,811
  14. Brian 26,583
  15. William 24,798
  16. Jonathan 22,588
  17. Eric 20,712
  18. Andrew 20,232
  19. Brandon 20,206
  20. Adam 20,044
  21. Nicholas 19,775
  22. Jeremy 19,113
  23. Anthony 18,569
  24. Timothy 18,228
  25. Kevin 17,454
  26. Thomas 17,159
  27. Richard 16,855
  28. Steven 16,482
  29. Jeffrey 15,931
  30. Aaron 14,694
  31. Charles 14,427
  32. Benjamin 14,360
  33. Mark 13,542
  34. Scott 12,719
  35. Paul 11,776
  36. Nathan 11,256
  37. Jesse 10,443
  38. Patrick 10,384
  39. Stephen 10,302
  40. Travis 10,109
  41. Kenneth 9,472
  42. Dustin 9,350
  43. Jacob 9,342
  44. Sean 8,893
  45. Jose 8,773
  46. Gregory 8,756
  47. Chad 8,412
  48. Bryan 7,215
  49. Shawn 7,076
  50. Bradley 6,895
  51. Edward 6,661
  52. Kyle 6,570
  53. Derek 6,481
  54. Samuel 6,036
  55. Peter 5,997
  56. Donald 5,910
  57. Jared 5,865
  58. Keith 5,621
  59. Ronald 5,538
  60. Juan 5,499
  61. George 5,157
  62. Gary 4,946
  63. Zachary 4,841
  64. Douglas 4,788
  65. Joel 4,540
  66. Phillip 4,539
  67. Marcus 4,510
  68. Raymond 4,367
  69. Corey 4,247
  70. Alexander 4,237
  71. Carlos 4,185
  72. Craig 4,097
  73. Larry 3,955
  74. Todd 3,953
  75. Antonio 3,926
  76. Erik 3,921
  77. Jeremiah 3,896
  78. Derrick 3,850
  79. Brett 3,775
  80. Nathaniel 3,719
  81. Shane 3,710
  82. Frank 3,638
  83. Dennis 3,634
  84. Philip 3,581
  85. Casey 3,518
  86. Shaun 3,383
  87. Gabriel 3,373
  88. Brent 3,371
  89. Lucas 3,371
  90. Cory 3,352
  91. Randy 3,343
  92. Luis 3,342
  93. Jeffery 3,334
  94. Curtis 3,198
  95. Seth 3,137
  96. Tyler 3,117
  97. Jerry 3,056
  98. Russell 3,048
  99. Wesley 3,040
  100. Luke 3,013

Top girl names of 1981

  1. Jennifer 57,046
  2. Jessica 42,531
  3. Amanda 34,372
  4. Sarah 28,175
  5. Melissa 28,005
  6. Amy 20,345
  7. Nicole 20,310
  8. Stephanie 20,212
  9. Elizabeth 20,168
  10. Heather 17,946
  11. Michelle 17,781
  12. Rebecca 16,737
  13. Kimberly 16,689
  14. Tiffany 16,416
  15. Angela 15,924
  16. Crystal 15,888
  17. Christina 14,392
  18. Lisa 14,294
  19. Erin 13,853
  20. Amber 13,814
  21. Laura 13,292
  22. Rachel 12,590
  23. Kelly 11,873
  24. Andrea 11,686
  25. April 11,406
  26. Sara 11,359
  27. Mary 11,042
  28. Jamie 10,982
  29. Emily 10,799
  30. Danielle 10,038
  31. Kristin 9,737
  32. Shannon 9,226
  33. Megan 8,964
  34. Ashley 8,874
  35. Lauren 8,813
  36. Erica 8,626
  37. Julie 8,567
  38. Kristen 8,540
  39. Katherine 8,433
  40. Maria 7,681
  41. Brandy 6,898
  42. Christine 6,854
  43. Courtney 6,636
  44. Katie 6,600
  45. Tara 6,366
  46. Alicia 5,855
  47. Lindsay 5,843
  48. Kathryn 5,823
  49. Monica 5,782
  50. Brandi 5,527
  51. Samantha 5,516
  52. Brooke 5,328
  53. Patricia 5,284
  54. Anna 5,192
  55. Carrie 5,094
  56. Leslie 4,934
  57. Allison 4,904
  58. Lindsey 4,863
  59. Cynthia 4,859
  60. Natalie 4,858
  61. Misty 4,799
  62. Vanessa 4,749
  63. Holly 4,564
  64. Karen 4,539
  65. Stacy 4,479
  66. Melanie 4,475
  67. Jacqueline 4,334
  68. Veronica 4,313
  69. Latoya 4,266
  70. Dana 4,246
  71. Susan 4,244
  72. Kristina 4,061
  73. Catherine 4,057
  74. Sandra 4,037
  75. Diana 3,971
  76. Pamela 3,881
  77. Tracy 3,869
  78. Jill 3,857
  79. Dawn 3,839
  80. Tina 3,821
  81. Leah 3,808
  82. Kathleen 3,776
  83. Stacey 3,754
  84. Heidi 3,738
  85. Natasha 3,730
  86. Candice 3,698
  87. Victoria 3,689
  88. Julia 3,668
  89. Valerie 3,611
  90. Wendy 3,608
  91. Lori 3,479
  92. Tanya 3,408
  93. Erika 3,399
  94. Kristy 3,263
  95. Katrina 3,257
  96. Denise 3,201
  97. Teresa 3,121
  98. Renee 2,997
  99. Christy 2,943
  100. Theresa 2,943

Questions

What was the most popular baby name in 1981?
Michael was the #1 boy name in 1981 (68,750 babies) and Jennifer was the #1 girl name (57,046 babies).
How many babies were counted in 1981?
Social Security records list 3,459,237 babies born in 1981 with names given to at least 5 babies: 1,791,177 boys and 1,668,060 girls.